New York
Top attorneys for Gov. Ron DeSantis penned the cease-and-desist letters sent by Florida’s health department threatening to criminally prosecute local TV stations over their airing of an abortion rights ad, the department’s former general counsel said in court documents.
In an affidavit filed on Monday, John Wilson, the former general counsel for Florida’s Department of Health, said that Sam Elliot, a top attorney for the DeSantis administration, provided him with pre-written letters to the TV stations on October 3. Wilson was directed by Ryan Newman and Jed Doty, both general counsel for the DeSantis administration, to send the letters under his own name, he stated in the affidavit.
“I did not draft the letters or participate in any discussions about the letters prior to October 3,” Wilson wrote.
Wilson resigned from his post the following week, a decision he said he made “in lieu of complying with directives from Newman and Doty to send out further correspondence to the media outlets,” after the threats to local outlets ignited outrage.
“A man is nothing without his conscience,” Wilson wrote in his resignation letter. “It has become clear in recent days that I cannot join you on the road that lies before this Agency.”
Newman also directed Wilson to find outside attorneys who could be retained by the health department to assist with actions against the local stations, the affidavit said.
Spokespersons for DeSantis and the Florida Department of Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Wilson’s allegations come after local TV stations began airing an ad by Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group behind the state’s “Yes on 4 Campaign,” promoting a ballot measure seeking to overturn the state’s six-week abortion ban by enshrining abortion rights in the state’s constitution.
The 30-second ad features a brain cancer survivor named Caroline, who says the state law would have barred her from receiving a life-saving abortion.
“The doctors knew that if I did not end my pregnancy, I would lose my baby, I would lose my life, and my daughter would lose her mom,” Caroline says in the “Yes on 4 Campaign” ad. “Florida has now banned abortions, even in cases like mine.”
Shortly after the ads began airing, a handful of stations received cease-and-desist letters from Wilson on state health department letterhead threatening litigation within 24 hours should they fail to comply with orders.
Floridians Protecting Freedom filed a lawsuit last week against Wilson and Joseph Ladapo, the state’s surgeon general, accusing the pair of engaging in “unconstitutional coercion and viewpoint discrimination” while pressing the court to block them from following up on their threats.
On Thursday, a federal judge agreed that the department’s threats constituted “viewpoint discrimination,” granting a temporary restraining order against Ladapo.
Local TV stations also received support from FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, who said earlier this month that “threats against broadcast stations for airing content that conflicts with the government’s views are dangerous and undermine the fundamental principle of free speech.”
